Pike County is a county in Ohio, United States, about 65 miles south of Columbus in the Appalachian foothills. It had a population of 27,088 at the 2020 census, an estimated 27,061 by 2025, and covers 444 square miles (1,150 km2) centred near 39°05′N 83°04′W.
Waverly is the county seat and the county’s largest community; its postal code is 45690. The county holds 3 incorporated villages, 2 census-designated places and a dozen smaller communities across 14 townships, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 39131.
Towns & Villages in Pike County
Pike County has 17 named places on record: 3 incorporated villages, 2 census-designated places and 12 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural communities with no formal boundary.
| Place | Type | Township | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waverly | Village · seat | Pee Pee | 4,165 | 45690 |
| Piketon | Village | Seal | 2,111 | 45661 |
| Beaver | Village | Beaver | 442 | 45613 |
| Stockdale | CDP | Marion | 111 | 45683 |
| Cynthiana | CDP | Perry | 57 | — |
| Jasper | Unincorp. | Newton | — | 45642 |
| Latham | Unincorp. | Mifflin | — | 45646 |
| Wakefield | Unincorp. | Scioto | — | 45687 |
| Arkoe | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Buchanan | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Byington | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Camp | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Daleyville | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Idaho | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Morgantown | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Omega | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Sargents | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
Two entries confuse readers of older lists. Bristol Village, which appears on many gazetteers, is a retirement community inside Waverly’s limits, not a separate town. And Beaver names both a village and the township around it — the village of 442 people sits inside Beaver Township, which counts 1,271. Older versions of this page also listed dozens of mobile-home parks and subdivisions as if they were towns; they have been removed.
Townships
Pike County is divided into 14 civil townships. Every township population below is from the 2020 census.
| Township | Pop. (2020) | Main settlements |
|---|---|---|
| Pee Pee | 7,415 | Waverly |
| Seal | 3,331 | Piketon |
| Pebble | 2,463 | — |
| Newton | 1,789 | Jasper |
| Benton | 1,589 | — |
| Marion | 1,491 | Stockdale |
| Beaver | 1,271 | Beaver |
| Union | 1,258 | — |
| Mifflin | 1,188 | Latham |
| Sunfish | 1,169 | — |
| Jackson | 1,162 | — |
| Scioto | 1,038 | Wakefield |
| Camp Creek | 1,012 | — |
| Perry | 906 | Cynthiana |
ZIP Codes
- 45690 — Waverly (also serves Bristol Village and much of central Pike County)
- 45661 — Piketon (also serves the DOE reservation south of the village)
- 45613 — Beaver
- 45646 — Latham (western Pike County)
- 45642 — Jasper (PO-box service)
- 45683 — Stockdale (PO-box service)
- 45687 — Wakefield (post office closed in 2005; the ZIP survives for box service)
Cynthiana’s old 45624 code survives only as a box listing; since its post office closed, street addresses there use Bainbridge’s 45612, administered from Ross County. Arkoe, Buchanan, Byington, Camp, Daleyville, Idaho, Morgantown, Omega and Sargents have no ZIP of their own — mail is delivered on rural routes under the nearest post-office town’s code.
Geography
Pike County lies in Ohio’s unglaciated Appalachian plateau — steep wooded hills cut by the Scioto River, which flows south through the middle of the county past Waverly and Piketon. Of its 444 square miles, 440 are land and 3.7 are water (0.8 percent). Lake White, a 1930s canal-fed reservoir southwest of Waverly, is the largest lake and anchors a state park; Pike Lake State Park and the 12,000-acre Pike State Forest cover more of the western hills.
Ross County lies to the north, Jackson County to the east, Scioto County to the south, Adams County to the southwest and Highland County to the west.
Demographics
Pike County counted 27,088 residents at the 2020 census, and the 2025 estimate of 27,061 shows the total essentially flat. Waverly (4,165) and Piketon (2,111) are the two largest communities; more than eight in ten residents live in areas the Census Bureau classes as rural. Median household income was $52,736 in 2024, well below Ohio’s statewide $71,389, and 21.3 percent of residents live below the poverty line. Density works out to about 62 people per square mile of land, roughly a fifth of the Ohio average.
Economy & Local Life
Health care and social assistance is the county’s biggest employment sector with about 2,019 workers, followed by manufacturing at 1,290 and retail trade at 1,172. The dominant single site is the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant on the federal reservation south of Piketon, which enriched uranium from 1954 to 2001; the Department of Energy’s decontamination and decommissioning program there remains one of southern Ohio’s largest payrolls. In April 2026, SB Energy announced plans to build a large AI data-center campus on part of the site. Adena Pike Medical Center in Waverly is the county’s hospital, and the school districts and county government are steady employers. The biggest annual event is the Pike County Dogwood Festival, held in Piketon on the last full weekend of April since 1971, with a parade, bluegrass and craft stalls.
History
The Ohio legislature formed Pike County on 1 February 1815 from parts of Ross, Scioto and Adams counties, naming it for the explorer Zebulon Pike, who died in the War of 1812. Piketon was the first county seat. The Ohio & Erie Canal, opened through the Scioto Valley in 1832, made canal-side Waverly the county’s commercial center, and on 11 November 1861 the commissioners moved the county offices to Waverly, where they have stayed.
The Cold War remade the county: construction of the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant from 1952 drew thousands of workers to the hills south of Piketon, and the plant shaped local employment for half a century. The county drew national attention in April 2016, when eight members of the Rhoden family were shot and killed at four properties near Peebles Road; members of the Wagner family were later convicted or pleaded guilty in the killings.
Getting There
No interstate crosses Pike County. US 23, the main north–south corridor between Columbus and Portsmouth, runs through Waverly and Piketon; State Route 32, the Appalachian Highway, crosses the county’s southern half, and SR 104, SR 124, SR 220 and SR 772 cover the rural west and east.
- Chillicothe — about 18 miles north
- Portsmouth — about 26 miles south
- Jackson — about 20 miles east
- Columbus — about 65 miles north
John Glenn Columbus International Airport, roughly 70 miles north, is the nearest major commercial airport. Amtrak’s Cardinal stops at South Portsmouth–South Shore, Kentucky, about 30 miles south of Waverly across the Ohio River.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Pike County located?
In Appalachian southern Ohio, about 65 miles south of Columbus, bordered by Ross, Jackson, Scioto, Adams and Highland counties.
What is the population of Pike County?
27,088 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate of 27,061.
How big is Pike County?
444 square miles (1,150 km2), of which 440 square miles are land.
Which town is the seat of Pike County?
Waverly, on the Scioto River, has held the county offices since 1861; Piketon was the seat before that.
How many towns and villages are in Pike County?
Three incorporated villages — Waverly, Piketon and Beaver — plus the CDPs Stockdale and Cynthiana and a dozen unincorporated communities such as Jasper, Latham and Wakefield.
What ZIP codes does Pike County use?
45690 for Waverly, 45661 for Piketon, 45613 for Beaver and 45646 for Latham, plus box-service codes 45642, 45683 and 45687.
What is Pike County known for?
The DOE’s former uranium-enrichment site at Piketon, the Pike County Dogwood Festival each April, and Lake White and Pike Lake state parks.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Ohio.